With the military offensive still unfolding in Mosul, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) are rushing to provide shelter, drinking water, and sanitation services for displaced families and children.

“Our focus remains on the intensive and continuing push for more protection and shelter support,” Adrian Edwards, a UNHCR spokesperson, told today’s press briefing in Geneva.

The agency UNHCR reports modest levels of displacement, with 3,900 people displaced and transported to a nearby reception centre in the village of Al-Hood to receive assistance. Additional 240 people were transferred from Makhmur district to a reception centre (Debaga) yesterday.

According to UNHCR, additional five camps were established to shelter 45,000 people, with 11 camps planned. The agency will be able to provide shelter support for 600,000 people.

In Mosul, UNHCR will soon be ready to send support and emergency assistance to 15,000 individuals, with hopes to eventually accommodate 50,000. In addition, UNHCR has partnered with other UN agencies as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to ensure that proper sanitation, sufficient water supply, health and protections services are available to the people at Al Hol.